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GameSpy's 25 Most Anticipated Games of 2013

We can't wait to get our hands on this mix of indies and blockbusters.

Since the world didn't end last month, we can actually start looking forward to the future! As the image of what the next wave of PC games comes more into focus, 2013 looks brighter and brighter. There are hundreds coming, and many will be awesome -- here are the 25 that stick out to us as our most anticipated PC games of 2013.

Why we're excited: Developer 4A Games claims it will improve upon its deeply immersive post-apocalyptic shooter in every way, including a graphical upgrade that will supposedly make Last Light a new PC gaming benchmark.

Big question: It looks prettier, but will it be any smarter? Metro 2033's enemy AI often lacks the "I" part.

Why we're excited: With South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone providing the funny and Obsidian providing the RPG, the Stick of Truth might finally deliver the great game South Park's been trying for since 1998.

Big question: All the rest of the South Park games to date have been mediocre at best, terrible at worst -- and Obsidian has a bit of a reputation for bugs. Can The Stick of Truth break the curse?

Why we're excited: 2004's Rome: Total War is regarded as one of the best of the series, and Total War: Rome 2 aims to give it the biggest, grandest treatment we've seen yet.

Big question: Bigger isn't always better. Will Creative Assembly know where to show restraint in its design to keep from bogging us down with too many things to do?

Release date: TBA 2013

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Why we're excited: Between the shot in the arm the new multiplayer units should bring to online play and the Zerg campaign (which, if it's as good as the Wings of Liberty campaign, will be amazing), StarCraft 2 should continue to set the standard for RTSes, both in multiplayer and single-player.

Big question: The story in Wings of Liberty wasn't nearly as memorable as the original StarCraft's. Can Blizzard turn things around in the second part?

Why we're excited: Maybe "excited" isn't the right word to use here. Why we're terrified:Frictional Games and new partner thechineseroom (Dear Esther) promise Pigs will make us "afraid to turn on our PC."

Big question: Being more frightening than Amnesia: The Dark Descent won't be easy -- can Frictional scare the pants off us twice?

Why we're excited: Valve's amazingly free MOBA is already a huge sensation while it's in beta (seriously, look at the Steam numbers!), so we can only imagine how big it's going to get when the floodgates open for real.

Big question: Can anything make the MOBA community more friendly to new players? Even Valve's not a miracle worker.

Why we're excited: Call us hopelessly optimistic, but BioWare has said it's learned from the mistakes of Dragon Age 2 and plans to bring back a bigger world, deeper character/party customization, and player-owned castles, and slap all of that into DICE's impressive Frostbite 2 engine.

Big question: With the departure of its founders and many other senior people last year, is BioWare even BioWare anymore? There's still a lot of talent there, we're sure, but they're unproven -- this will be their chance!

Why we're excited: We're nerds, and this is a virtual collectible card game and pencil-and-paper fantasy RPG mash-up from Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield and Irrational Games co-founder Jon Chey.

Big question: How will developer Blu Manchu incorporate paid elements into this free-to-play game? Real-world CCGs can get pricy fast.

Release date: TBA 2013

Command & Conquer

Why we're excited: Originally announced as Command & Conquer: Generals 2, the new C&C is now a free-to-play RTS powered by Frostbite 2 -- and it looks glorious.

Big question: EA's Play4Free track record isn't great in terms of dodging pay-to-win problems. Can this reboot restore C&C to glory without breaking what makes RTS games tick?

Why we're excited: We're big fans of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander, so when we learned Uber Entertainment wanted to take that style of RTS to a ridiculous interplanetary scale we couldn't throw money at the Kickstarter fast enough.

Big question: With entire solar systems as our RTS battleground, will we have a control system that actually keeps us, you know, in control?

Release date: TBA 2013

Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Why we're excited: There's a certain appeal to being stalked through an open world by "tweedpunk" British robots and their mechanical canine companions.

Big question: It looks hilarious, but stealth survival is tough to pull off. Will it be as fun as it is funny?

Release date: TBA 2013

Arma 3

Why we're excited: Shooters are a dime a dozen, but those that simulate the bajeesas out of every part of a massive battlefield with painstakingly accurate versions of modern military hardware rendered in gorgeous graphical detail are few and far between.

Big question:Will it be any easier to control than Arma 2? That UI is a monstrosity. Also, there's the very serious matter of Greece holding two of Arma 3's developers on espionage charges... we hope that works out.

Big question: Can we see it? Announced in 2009, there's been plenty of smoke around Thief 4, with reports of a number of high-level designers leaving the project during its lengthy development.

Release date: TBA 2013

Editor's note: our original list included Obsidian's Project Eternity, but unfortunately, we'll have to wait until 2014 for that old-school RPG adventure.

Wait! Wait! I'm not done playing all of 2012's games yet! Can't we push a few of these back to 2020 or so to give me time to catch up? No? Oh well, I guess I'll just brace for an onslaught of awesomeness. What's your pick of the 2013 litter?